Pumpkin Patch Round One

Earlier this month the twins and I went to a pumpkin patch with some friends.  The forecast called for light showers, but we all agreed to try it anyways!

Abbey and her buddy on the see saw...

My Abbey flower...

And my Lucas flower...



(pretty much any time he can, Luke is hanging upside down =) )

Me and my pumpkins =).

I look a little funny (I was trying to crouch down to fit in the photo, not realizing I had tons of head clearance still) but I LOVE Luke and Abbey's smiles!! We were having so much fun!

There were goats to pet...





...and piglets to feed! Abbey was in Heaven! She's said for awhile now that she is going to work with farm animals when she grows up, and I have no doubt she will follow through with this plan. She just loves animals and has such a way with them even at four years old.



Paul McCartney Luke comes down the slide!

We went with some of our triplet friends and another set of twin friends, which made for seven kids and three mommas...serious zone defense, but also lots of fun!

 

Hayride...



 

My sweet little bird next to an Angry one =) 



 

 





 

 

This little enclosure was called "The Nut House!" It was filled with acorns, and was appropriately named, as anyone who stood outside and listened to the chorus of yelling a bunch of little kids playing in acorns with echoy walls makes would surely end up in one.



Luke and his buddy checking the map to see where our next destination should be... 



 

 

And this moment is one I need to brag about...



 

Our sweet little friend was up at the top of this slide (after finishing a kids-only haze maze to get to the slide) and was too frightened to slide down. She wanted her Momma to come get her, but it just wasn't going to happen. We were all trying to coax her to come down, when Abbey (apparently) offered to go with her. She sat in front of Abbey ("I had her sit on my lap Momma!") and Abbey held her hand, and said "don't be scared, we'll go together! I'll get you to your Momma!" and down they came.

Wicked proud of my girl.

 

A little independence...

This girl went to preschool all by herself this morning!

 

 

I know that's nothing to singletons, but for being a twin and always having your buddy with you, it's noteworthy =).

 

Yesterday Luke asked me if I would lay down in our bed with him and "just rest for a bit".

Um, sure, but let's check your temp first, because a request so out of character made me suspicious he wasn't feeling well.

A quick check with the thermometer confirmed my suspicion.

 

When his fever continued into the evening, I asked Abbey if Luke ended up needing to stay home from preschool this morning, did she want to stay home too or still go? She thought for a minute, then said "I think I'd still like to go!"

Our big girl =).

 

When it comes to our twins, they really do not do everything together. At school they play with different kids most the time, but they do like to know where the other is. And Abbey tends to be a little more dependent on Luke than he is on her. Which is neither good nor bad, it just is =).

 

In any event, she marched right into the classroom alone this morning, and proudly came out with a smile on her face when Luke and I went to pick her up. When I asked her how she did without Brother there, she said "fine, I hardly even thought about it!"

 

Our little kids are sure growing up!!



Seasons

It's officially Fall here in the Pacific Northwest, and early Fall always brings the most beautiful colors out.

We've been trying to get outside every day the sun shows it's light...

 

We know the rainy season is coming, where rainboots and jackets are required before leaving the house. And picnics at the park with friends will have to wait again until Spring...

 

 

Just last week I reduced my hours at work by 50%. I now only work outside the home 12 hours a week...yahoo!! I work two evenings a week (going in after David comes home from his day at work) and just four hours on Saturday mornings. I've been absolutely loving spending more of the daytime with my kiddos...

 

 

The entire pulse of our home seems to have slowed down since I was able to cut back at work. I know plenty of fantastic Mommas who work full time and still do a great job at everything their home life requires.

 I however, am not one of those women.

I am learning - in my thirties- that I'm not the greatest multi-tasker. (Which makes it slightly amusing God gave me twins) If I'm focused on any type of big project at work, my home life suffers greatly. I'm just not good at dividing my head and heart like that.

And if I'm going to be busy, stressed, or overwhelmed with anything, may it be my family, right?! =)



My heart is also aware that this is my last Fall with Abbey and Luke home with me every morning. Next year, they will start kindergarten - which is crazy to think about.

This awareness makes me just want to soak up each day we get to be together and not bound to any type of schedule like the one kindergarten will bring.

 

So we've been playing on the swings, taking lots of walks, stopping for quick romps at the park on the way home from running errands. Trying to soak it all in.

It's not like Winter doesn't have it's good things...I looovveee Christmas time. I love all the decorations and lights and music and general Joy that seems to emanate all around during that time of year. And of course, Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday as well.

Who knows, maybe we'll even get some snow this year to play in =).

 

No matter what, we'll do our best to enjoy the Winter, and seek out the fun and excitement in the midst of it.

Knowing that Spring always comes again makes it easier.

The same can be said for the seasons of life.

 

In the meantime, you can find us dashing outside to soak up rays anytime we sense they're out, even if that means just playing in our small front yard...

 



 

May this Fall be a blessed one. 

Summer 2014 - the 2nd half

Annnnndddd since it's October, I figured I should probably get around to documenting the second half of our summer.
So that I can go ahead and be behind documenting Fall, naturally.


Abbey did lots of art work this summer, combining stickers and markers and crayons and foam pieces, and making absolute masterpieces...

 

She also played Basketball on Fridays at the local Community Center...

 

 

Abbey was awesome at basketball! She was in a group with about seven other boys ages 3-5, and she never even noticed she was the only girl. I was so proud of her. Confident and hard working, that's our girl!!  It was fun to see her shine on her own, and it was a good discipline for Luke to just sit with me and watch.

Luke played baseball on Tuesdays this summer, and he was a natural! Dave has been very active about playing sports with both kids since they were able to walk, so it shouldn't surprise me to see how quickly they take to these lessons, but it still does. Luke has a natural confidence about him when it comes to athletics, and it was great to see him work so hard and continue to persevere even when his first attempt needed a little work. I was so proud of his team work as well!

 And, again, it was an exercise in discipline for Abbey to just sit and watch with me. It was nice to send the message that we all support each other as individuals in our little family, so even when it's not about you, you support and encourage your family member =).

Two cuties before Church one sunny Sunday...

 

 

 

 

We had Date Days in early August. Abbey and I went to Hopworks for lunch (her pick - hooray!) and then to the Humane Society to pet kitties...

 

 

 

David and Luke went to lunch and then went to the aquarium.

 

 

We got to have a big ol' reunion of the Five Brown Sisters and all their spouses and offspring when Emily came back from Zambia...

 

It's always so fun when we can all get together!!

 

We are all so stinkin' happy to have Aunt Mem back in the area!

 

We had lots of fun times at home, creating with Play-Doh...

 

...and just being creative in general...
Luke turned this box into a rocket ship...
 



 

 

We got to babysit a sweet baby for an afternoon...

I'm told Luke and Abbey collaborated on this work of art for quite awhile (David took it while I was at work)...

 

Abbey and Luke spent so much time playing together this summer. Four is a fun age =).  There were times that they had too much of each other and needed to be separated, but those really were few and far between. It's so nice to have a built in playmate!

Some sweet cousin cuddle time...

And this was a pretty familiar site over the summer...

 ...AbbeyGirl was really into helping me bake and cook on a regular basis this Summer, which is (hopefully) creating fun memories for both of us. She sure loves to help in the kitchen. Who knows? Maybe she'll be a chef someday.

 

 

We enjoyed lots and lots of park time!! Oregon is such a beautiful place to live, but that beauty requires lots of rain. So it rains here from like late October through early April. It's hard to find dry days to play at the park during those months, so I always feel (self-imposed) pressure to get out and enjoy the good weather while we can.

 

On this particular day we drove through BurgerVille on our way home from Abbey's basketball classes and had a picnic together...

 

 

 



And of course, lots of fighting bad guys and saving the world...

Abbey drew this picture of us on a chalkboard at a restaurant. Complete with an "M for Momma and an A for Abbey!"
She also drew them holding hands.
Have I mentioned I really like Four???
=)

Lukey doing some painting...

 (he's put his tongue out while focusing for as long as I can remember! His first steps were taken with his tongue out =) )

And dancing around on his bed, showing off all his hung-up artwork he likes to look at while up on his bunk...

 

(It totally cracks me up now thinking about the time I wasted  spent day-dreaming about my kids' nurseries and toddler rooms. VERY early on, they had opinions about what went in their rooms, and I made a choice awhile back to resign to letting them choose most of it (within reason, of course), because it's their room, and really they should get to decide what is on the walls. Even if that means a hideous amount of blue painters tape every few inches. Whatever. It makes them happy =). And the Pottery Barn matching sets I would have picked out would have been way too expensive anyways. )

 

Which also means they now have a hammock in their room...

 

...I swear, my kids have the most fun Daddy ever =).

 

Luke had mentioned he wanted a hammock, and David said he could put his old one up for them. He suggested the Living Room, but I just couldn't handle that thought. It wraps up small, but the big black bike hooks it requires in the wall were just more than I could stand seeing sticking out every time I sat down on the couch. But their room seemed like a decent second option. The twins LOVE IT, and Dave and I have loved the renewed cuddle time it has afforded...

 

 

So. There you have it. Summer, 2014 is officially on the books =). What a great one it was.